December 2nd – Bringing Back the True Meaning of the Holidays with #GivingTuesday

For many, the holidays bring stress and pressure in not only finding the right gift, but how many gifts to give, what is the best price for said gifts, and of course the annual question on whether to shop or not to shop Black Friday.  And as you know, this year Black Friday has even creeped infringed into our family time on Thanksgiving Day!!
But that is another story/blog for another day.

 

 

While all of these things may be seem important, why not stop and take the time to go back to what the holidays are really about, saying thanks and giving back.  Here at The Appreciation factor, I’ve found a new way you can do this. You can consider spreading the word and participating in #GivingTuesday 2014.  This year, December 2nd will mark the third annual #GivingTuesday.

Haven’t heard about it?
Set on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, #GivingTuesday was started in 2010 as a global, 24-hour giving challenge created by thought-leaders at the UN Foundation and the 92^nd Street Y.

 

#Giving Tuesday’s focus was to bring back the original sentiments of the holiday season:

• Generosity
• Hope
• Goodwill, and
• Community

And if you’ve been following me/read others posts on this blog, you’ll agree that these are all things I can get my hands around and things I appreciate vs. only looking at the retail side of things during the holidays.

According to Wikipedia,  the concept gained steam with the help of founding partnerships with The United Nations Foundation, Donors Choose, Mashable, Global Giving, the Darden Restaurant Group, Groupon, and Unilever and several others.  There ongoing success is partly due to the assistance from renewing corporate sponsorships by Google, Microsoft, Skype, Cisco, UNICEF, and the Case Foundation.  This participation has helped the #GivingTuesday initiative raise millions of dollars for thousands of non-profits.

 

Did you know? Americans give more to charitable organizations in dollars ($300B)
and as a percentage of the GDP (2.1%) than any other developed country?

Source: Forbes 2014

 

There are many non-profit organizations participating/asking for your help on #GivingTuesday, maybe one of your favorites, and many more that truly need our help at this time of year.  Plus #GivingTuesday is a great alternative to the pressure to spend, spend, spend on gifts that may not make as much of an impact.

 

The idea is simple.  Give to a non-profit organization of your choice on December 2nd.  BUT… don’t feel that the only way that you can give is financially. Here are 3 ways you can make a difference.

1. You can post an “Unselfie”   (You read that correctly.  It’s UNselfie not Selfie.)

This is mine

In 2013, #GivingTuesday supporters were encouraged to take a photo of themselves or something that represented their giving, upload it to their social media account of choice, and use the hashtags: #unselfie and #GivingTuesday. It was a resounding success and they’ve asked that we take on the Unselfie challenge again this year.   Check out mine on the left!

 

 

2. Give of your time.  Pledge to give 10 mins or 10 hours of volunteer or your expertise to help further their efforts. Every little bit will help.

3.    In some cases, you can just simply spread the word, though I hope you’ll do more.

Blink Buggy, a website for uploading/storing your precious images of your children  is offering a $1 donation to Baby Buggy, a NY non-profit organization dedicated to providing families in need with essential baby equipment, products, clothing, and services, for every Facebook, Twitter, Instagram post made with essential equipment, products, clothing, and services.

So… What will you do?

MY PLEDGE
For my part, I hope to spread the word through this blog – and hope you will too.  I also pledge to give at least 25 hours of volunteer time over the next 6 months (as seen in my Unselfie).  I already volunteer at my local PBS station and local food pantry, but I plan to step it up and find at least one other non-profit to offer my services or expertise to in the next 6 months.  I’ll also be posting my Unselfie on my TAF Twitter account and on the GivingTues Twitter page, December 2nd.

Want more information/Want to get involved?

Learn More:

• #GivingTuesday Website:  Find Events, Ways to give, participating non-profits, and even ways to spread the word/participate if you work for a non-profit.  (There’s still time!):  http://www.givingtuesday.org/
  • To partner (as a non-profit) with #GivingTuesday go to: http://www.givingtuesday.org/partners.html

Share:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GivingTuesday
• Twitter:  https://twitter.com/GivingTues (Look for my Twitter post of my Unselfie on December 2nd)
• Instagram: https://twitter.com/GivingTues
• Snapchat: givingtuesday
• #GivingTuesday share page: http://www.givingtuesday.org/share-your-story/ – Share what you did or what you plan to give (Photos encouraged!)

 

Here’s just a quick list of just a small few participating Non-Profits (see more on the Giving Tuesday website & Social Media sites)

• YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association) Which will help libraries empower teens
• American Cancer Society
• ASPCA
• Feeding America
• Water Aid

 

On December 2nd, don’t forget to post your #Unselfie or give (in the best way for you) to your favorite non-profit. (If they don’t seem to be participating in #GivingTuesday, be sure to mention your #GivingTuesday participation along with your “donation” to help spread the word.

I’d love to hear your feedback, and about your #GivingTuesday “donations” too!

Customers and Networking Contacts Deserve Your Thanks

It seems to be that time of year, where the question has come up again about how to appropriately say thank you to your customers and networking contacts or (to my horror) whether you should even take the time to send a thank you.

Just today I came across two references on this topic. One referred to the sales benefits you could attain by saying thanks (at all times of the year), and the other was around the topic of whether to send holiday cards as a way to show a business’ appreciation.

In the blog post by Julian Bush on Financenk’s, business development blog, called 4 Ways to increase Sales by Showing Gratitude to Customers he addresses four key areas about appreciation.  This article was totally up my ally as it had overall resounding support of showing and thinking about appreciation at all times.  Bush’s first two points supported my belief that your customers and networking contacts deserve the time to say thanks.  It’s his view that to succeed in business is to show gratitude.

Here are the two points that resonated with me regarding the client and network perspective:

Those who have helped you. 

He recommends taking time each day to send a thank you message via email, text, or Internet greeting card, (See my recommendation for this last one) to those who may have, for example, referred a client or helped you in some way.

I agree, though for me, every day might be too overwhelming and I’d want to ensure that the act of showing my appreciation was meaningful vs. a chore. (It would NOT however, be dependent upon how large or small the act of assistance or kindness was.)

 

Are you appreciative for knowing someone?

Bush’s expression of gratitude expands to all who positively impact your life. This could be your family, your friends, your customers and colleagues.  He believes that to share this appreciation will attract more of the same assistance and likely reciprocal gratitude your way.

 

 

His last two areas talk to written affirmation of what your thankful for as a whole, and in your daily life. Both are worth a review.

Bush sums up his post with the statement that by taking the time to show gratitude to your clients will reap the rewards of deep loyalty, an increase in client retention and profits. I really can’t argue this fact, as many of my clients have remained close over the span of 10-12 years. I think this partly due to my ongoing recognition of their assistance and simply their support of my business and/or services.

 

This leads me to the second reference I found today.  I came across this in one of my LinkedIn Groups, Sticky Branding.  A lead contributor, Jeremy Miller, posed the question, “What’s your take on the practice of sending season’s greetings cards to clients.”  While the response ran the gamut of sending personalized cards, to ones that go out at Thanksgiving or New Year’s, the answer was a resounding “YES!”  Again, I’m fully in support.  We should always extend our appreciation to those who have helped along the way.

Each year around this time, I feel lucky as I start compiling a list of customers, clients, network contacts, and colleagues who have been instrumental to my success over the past year.  Just prior to the Christmas holiday, I’ll send out cards (both traditional, non-secular printed cards or an email card (see my post on a great resource) wishing this group, “Season’s Greetings” and a reminder of how much their help, their business or general goodwill to me during the year has meant.  This list truly reminds me of how blessed I’ve been.  *NOTE: I don’t see these cards as taking the place of the acknowledgement I would have sent at the time of the action/assistance.

There were many takes on the timing of these cards. Some proposed the Thanksgiving holiday time – which I agree, is right in line with the holiday’s meaning as we think about it today. Others expounded on the “Christmas” card time frame, still others a New Year’s timing.

While I personally aim for Christmas, I thought the New Year’s group had a point. Perhaps if I delayed my delivery slight, my card could provide more impact. My card/message would be seen/read and break through the clutter. However, I did disagree with the strategy some who’s goal was to send these notes to increase business.  I send my holiday cards as a message of appreciation and thanks.  I’d like to think that no matter my timing, that the sentiment (and yes I do include a personalized 1-2 sentence thank you on each and every card I send) would be received/appreciated no matter when it reaches my recipients mail/in box.

 

 

What you do you think?
Does your business send cards?  Do you personally send notes when someone has helped you or after you’ve completed a project with a client?  Do you see your cards or thank you notes as a way to increase business/used to impact business?  Would you send one regardless of the financial impact they may or may not have? Or is there an impact on your brand or company that you think sending these out may have?